This extremely attractive raptor is a rare and local breeder in southeast Arizona. Some years they can be seen regularly in a specific location and other years they are scarce or absent from the same location. Perhaps easier to find in winter when roosting communally. San Rafael Valley has been a reliable location for many years but their numbers seem to have declined recently. This individual was photographed in San Rafael Valley on September 21, 2006.

September is a good month to find unusual and less common species during fall migration. When I first saw the bird pictured here, I was hoping for something more unusual than Black-bellied Plover (itself a rare fall transient in southeastern Arizona). It wasn't to be though. This "golden" juvenile Black-bellied Plover was digiscoped at Willcox, AZ on September 7, 2003. As of September 2010, I have 15 records in AZ in 10 different years; 13 in fall, 1 spring, 1 winter, 7 at Willcox.